When the Mariners needed a clutch moment after dropping three straight to the Royals, it was their longest-tenured player who came through with the big swing on Sunday.

With the game tied after starter Marco Gonzales gave up a homer to Michael A. Taylor in the top of the seventh inning, Kyle Seager belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame to help lift the Mariners to a 4-3 win, avoiding a four-game sweep at the hands of the Royals at T-Mobile Park.

Seager’s homer was his 31st of the season, a career-best figure for the veteran third baseman. The blast helped flip the script in a series that saw the Mariners fall victim to go-ahead homers from the Royals in each game leading up to the finale.

“It's definitely special,” Seager said of setting a career high in homers. “It's always nice to have a career high in hitting, so that's a positive. That's been part of my job. That's something I've kind of prided myself on, to play defense and try to do the damage-type stuff, knock in runs."

Seager’s clutch swing on Sunday continued the power streak he has been in the second half of the season.

Since the All-Star break, Seager has hit 15 homers and driven in 35 runs. The 15 homers are the third most in MLB behind Joey Votto (17) and Salvador Perez (17) in that span, and his 35 RBIs are tied for seventh most with José Abreu.

It also comes at a time when Seattle needed a win to keep pace in the AL Wild Card race. The Mariners trailed the A’s by two games and the Red Sox by 4 1/2 games for the second AL Wild Card at the conclusion of play Sunday.

Mariners manager Scott Servais said Seager’s power and reliability will be a key in helping the Mariners contend for a Wild Card spot.

“Kyle has been huge, and certainly after the All-Star break he has found that home run swing -- and we've needed them,” Servais said. “There's no question about it. We've seen him hit for a higher batting average and different things like that. But the impact of what he's done for us offensively and certainly being able to write him in the lineup [is important].”

Seager’s homer in the seventh came an inning after a solo shot from rookie Jarred Kelenic put the Mariners on top, 2-1 -- until Taylor's solo blast in the seventh re-tied the game, leading up to Seager's crucial go-ahead moment.

Gonzales, who threw seven innings and held the Royals to two runs, said seeing Seager and Kelenic help lift the Mariners to a win was much needed after a tough weekend.

“For those guys to come through, it's huge,” Gonzales said. “And who else but Kyle Seager, right? To come in late and put us ahead, it's just awesome to see, man. I love playing with Seager and I just can't say enough good things about him.”

Gonzales, who joined the Mariners in 2017, and Seager are no strangers to finding themselves in the midst of a late-season Wild Card push. In '18, the Mariners began the month of September 4 1/2 games back of the A’s for the second Wild Card spot but missed the postseason that year by seven games.

"We didn't get there in '18,” Seager said. “So, we got to figure out how to do better, how to do our jobs [better]."

Gonzales said Seager, who has played in 129 of the Mariners' 131 games, brings another factor of consistency that could help Seattle in its pursuit of its first postseason berth since 2001.

“[Seager] laces it up every day with the mindset to go out and win a ballgame,” Gonzales said. “He's wanting to taste the postseason, as we all are. I think this last month is going to be a really fun month of baseball. I can't wait to go to battle with him and with all these guys. I think we're all on the same page with that.”